


Triumph and Sacrifice

by Viva_Islenska



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice (Comics)
Genre: Bombs, Crime Fighting, Crimes & Criminals, F/M, Gen, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Injury Recovery, Medical Trauma, Recovery, Rescue, Rescue Missions, Sacrifice, Self-Sacrifice
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-09-01 11:43:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8623276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Viva_Islenska/pseuds/Viva_Islenska
Summary: The Team is sent to get to the bottom of a hostage crisis in Star City while the League is otherwise occupied. The simultaneous attacks are linked but why? It's up to Robin to stop a devious plan then up to Wally to save Robin. Robin & Wally brotherhood, shameless Robin and Wally H/C.





	1. Chapter 1

It was a warm August evening at Happy Harbor and the Team, including Zatanna, were showered, fed and winding down after a long day of training. The seven teens sat lounging in the common area flipping through channels and enjoying idle conversation. Since the school year hadn't begun yet, most of the teens had taken up residence at their rooms in the Cave for the summer. They liked to joke that it was almost like a summer camp, but way more badass. In any case, Conner and Megan were excited to have the constant company of their friends other than just the weekend nights.

"Z, I'm still having a hard time believing your dad let you come back to the Cave after what we got into last time," mentioned Robin offhand. "I've never seen Giovani so disappointed with us. How were you able to make him so... 'appointed' with you again?" Robin smirked at the butchered word as Wally groaned and Artemis rolled her eyes behind the book she was reading.

Zatanna laughed. "I got straight A's this whole year and dad was so 'appointed' that he said he'd take me on a trip as a reward. But he was summoned by the Lords of Order this morning for something important so he's letting me stay here for the week while he's away."

"Nice," said Robin. "Well, we're glad to have you."

"Good job getting straight A's!" exclaimed Megan happily from where she sat on the floor giving Wolf a rigorously enjoyable belly rub. "But I'm confused, I thought the letter 'A' is always straight? ... Oh duh, Megan!" She face-palmed. "The lower case 'a' is curved!"

Artemis quickly snapped her book shut and stepped in to explain before anyone could make fun of the Martian too badly. "Straight A's is an expression for getting the highest grade possible in all your classes at school, Meg. It's the grades that meganerds like Robin always get."

Robin blushed beneath his dark glasses. "Batman would be pissed at me if I didn't," he explained modestly.

"I get straight A's too," complained Wally.

"Ha!" laughed Artemis to his face, putting her book aside and engaging in the banter that always ensued when the two of them were in the same room or both with in range of Megan's telepathy. "I'm sure, seeing as you're a walking science experiment, that you slay math and science. But P.E.? Ten bucks says you get picked last for every team."

"Do not!" countered Wally. "I can do other sports besides run you know!"

"Ooo, like what?" replied Artemis with fake enthusiasm. "We all know how good of a swimmer you are," she said alluding to the time that Wally almost drowned when Cheshire knocked him out and threw him into the pool at Happy Harbor High.

"Hey!" whined Wally in an attempt to defend his aquatic prowess. "That was _one_ time and it was only because _you_ let Cheshire sneak past our perimeter and kick my face in!"

"Ok, you two, that is enough. Can you please try to along for a few hours? We all need some relaxation and peace if we are to perform at our highest level during training tomorrow," interjected Kaldur before the verbal match came to shouts and physical blows.

"(S)he started it!" the speedster and archer said accusing each other in unison.

When peace and comfortable silence resumed, the team refocused their attention back to the television. The team except for the Boy Wonder.

Robin was far far way, lost in thought and zoning out everything and everyone in the room except for the black-haired, blue-eyed goddess sitting across from him. _Straight A's_ , he thought sighing and stealing a look of admiration at the young witch. _She's a woman after my own computer-hacking heart_. She felt his gaze across the room and smiled back at him confidently, but with a slight blush on her pale cheeks creeping toward each ear.

Wally noticed the small exchange between his best friend and the female newcomer. He elbowed Robin in the side and gave him a bawdy wink but Robin merely rolled his eyes and shook his head.

When a commercial break came on, Zatanna opened a new subject for discussion. "So Megan, Artemis, who's room can I stay in? I sometimes do magic in my sleep but nothing too disruptive."

"Oh! Do stay with me!" said Megan. "My room has two big comfy beds!"

"Feel free to share my room too," added Artemis. "I only have one bed but it's a king size and my rooms not as draughty as Miss M's. Whatever floats your boat, Z."

"Eh hem, I think my man here already made plans for Zatanna tonight, guys," said Wally grinning from ear to ear and clapping Robin on the back with a _thud_.

"Dude, would you just shut it!" said Robin shrugging out of Wally's embrace and deftly back flipping onto the back of the large green couch. "I'm not a horn dog like you!"

"Being a ladies' man doesn't make me horn dog! Plus, who's in this room shirt just _happens_ to get ripped in all the right places every time we go on a mission? Not mine!" argued Wally gesturing toward Conner.

Conner blinked at him. "Wait" he said glancing sheepishly down at his black cotton t-shirt. "Does that really always happen?" he asked sullenly. He looked to Robin for some support.

"Sorry dude, but yeah" conceded Robin quietly and sympathetically from where he was lounging on the back of the sofa.

"You see!" began Wally. "After Kaldur, I'm practically the team gentleman and" –

At that moment, Kaldur stood up and was about to pacify the banter yet again but the teens were heralded on the Cave's intercom.

"Attention Team, report to the briefing room, immediately." It was Red Tornado's monotonous robotic voice who did the summoning.

"Sweet!" Said KF forgetting his latest claim to chivalrous traits. With gust of air, he bolted down the hallway to his room and back again in his uniform. "Finally some action!" In a blur of orange hair and yellow neoprene, he was gone.

The other's filed out of the common room to change too.


	2. Chapter 2

Within two minutes, the rest of teens had each gotten dressed and reported to the briefing room to join KF. They were greeted by a full-screen display of Batman and Superman.

"Where's Red?" asked Wally glancing around for the caped android. He was quickly silenced as Batman began to address the mission.

"Team, this is the most important mission you have been assigned to thus far. The Justice League is currently occupied fighting the Lords of Chaos at the World Commerce Building in Metropolis. Meanwhile, some members of the Injustice League have capitalized on this opportunity to reek havoc at the Museum of Natural History in Star City. There are hundreds of hostages within the building. It is unclear what their intent is but we need you seven to take Miss Martian's bioship to Star City, infiltrate the museum and keep the hostages safe until we can spare some members of Justice League to back you up. We're counting on you to keep the Injustice League distracted until we can get there and put them away." Batman finished his oratory without any change in his tone or expression.

Superman had more to add to the instructions. "We think that they may be using prototypal weapons and communications technology so stay sharp, and stay in constant contact with the League. As always, do a comms check and make a report as soon as you're on the scene and let us know what they're up to so we can piece together what is going on. Good Luck."

"Red Tornado will be manning the infirmary at the Cave since he is well-practiced and up to speed with emergency medicine and I'm sending Dr. Thompkins from Gotham City to join him. Two members of the Justice League are on their way now to receive care. That should give you an idea about how tough this fight is for us. As soon as we gain the upper hand, League members will be deployed to Star City to rendezvous with you seven. It is imperative that you get to the bottom of what Injustice League is up to since we suspect it may be connected to the attack on the World Commerce Building today. Questions?"

No one had any at the moment.

"Batman, out."

The transmission ended and the excited your heroes made their way to Megan's bioship and prepared for take-off.


	3. Chapter 3

"What do you think this new technology could be?" asked Megan from the pilot's seat to the group during the voyage to Star City.

"Don't know," said Robin pensively. "But we can definitely find out," he added encouragingly with a pat to his trusty wrist computer. "And something tells me that its not a coincidence that the IL is attacking this museum when they know that the Good Guys are all busy fighting the Lords of Chaos."

"All of them, except us," Wally pointed out.

"Robin is right," said Kaldur. "And since the Justice League has little idea about what's going on in the museum, we need to send them as much information as possible." He turned to Conner. "Superboy, as soon as we're in range, can you x-ray the building and alert us where the hostages are and which members of the Injustice League we are dealing with today?"

Conner nodded and stared out of his window, concentrating and focusing his x-ray vision on the building on the horizon that he knew to be the museum from Batman's brief. Squinting, he was able to get a good look inside. "I see about three hundred hostages and they're all on the first level in the main atrium of the building. As for the enemies…"

He took another few seconds to scan properly before he was sure about who he saw. "I've got eyes on Count Vertigo, Poison Ivy, Atomic Skull, Wotan, Amazo, Black Adam and... _ugh_ (he groaned in a display of his disdain for monkeys), Ultra-Humanite."

"Dang, we've got a full house," said Wally apprehensively as the cloaked bioship landed on the roof of the building and the team unbuckled their harnesses.

"No kidding," said Artemis as she inspected and plucked her bow.

"Yeah," said Robin, "but at least Joker didn't join in on the festivities today."

"We can handle this scum," growled Superboy. "Kaldur, what's the plan?"

"There are seven of us and seven villains. I suggest we focus on taking one of them out as quickly as possible in order to free up Robin and give him a change to hack into the mainframe of the building and scan for suspicious activity."

"Who should we all focus on taking out first?" asked Zatanna.

"I say Amazo," suggested Robin.

"I second that," growled the Kryptonian.

"Um yeah, the longer we let that dude fight, the harder he'll be to take down," said Wally remembering the nightmare of a fight the android had given them at Gotham Academy.

"Agreed," said Kaldur. "We also need to try to sneak the hostages out into the street before any harm comes to them."

"Leave that to me," said Zatanna. "I can cast a spell to make it look like they're all still in place."

"And I can help cloak them while they make for the exit," added the Martian.

"Good. Let's make it happen," agreed Kaldur. "Any questions?"

Robin raised a gloved hand like a pupil in a classroom. "Comms check with the League?"

"Good thinking, Robin. Everyone, do a quick comms check with a League Member," said Kaldur pressing the "A" symbol on his belt.

Conner frowned and crossed him arms impatiently. He had no one to contact within the League- only mental comms with the Team in font of him. Maybe if Superman cared enough about his well-being, he would have a shared net with him. He shouldn't be thinking about that now but he couldn't help feeling that his growing affinity for the Man of Steel wasn't being reciprocated.

"Uh guys," said Wally nervously, "is anyone's communicator working?"

"I can't get Zatarra, but he could be busy with the Lords of Order still," reported Zatanna.

Neither Artemis nor Wally could reach their mentors either. Wally's ear piece even shorted out and burned his hear a little bit. "Ugh just great!" he exclaimed ripping the ear bud out and stomping on it. "That hurt!"

"Oh man up, Bay Watch!" chided Artemis, removing her own singed and smoking earpiece. "Yep. Mine's fried too," she told the group.

"And I cannot reach my King," said Kaldur surprised. "Robin, can you reach anyone?"

Robin tinkered with a few adjustments to his keypad and listened carefully. "Negative. No one, and I think I know why."

The team gathered around the youngest member and looked at the hologram that was displayed from his gauntlet. "You see this?" he motioned to their signals that were leaving their location but scattering uselessly into the atmosphere. "We're being jammed. It must be part of this new technology that the big guy was worried about. I've been helping develop similar technology for Wayyy- nevermind. The bottom line is that we won't be able to make or receive any calls anywhere within the city."

"Can't you override the jamming?" asked Artemis.

"He'd need to get inside and disarm the mechanism that's jamming us," said Zatanna remembering a school lecture about radio communications and electronic attacks.

"The girl knows her stuff," said Robin confirming Zatanna's statement. "We might be on our own for this."

"Then we will do as we have been trained and handle the situation until the League is able to send reinforcements. Let's go."

And with that, the Team made their way into the roof access hatch and sped silently and determinedly down to the main atrium where the hostages were surrounded by the seven criminals.


	4. Chapter 4

As always, Kid Flash was the first member of the Team on the scene. He ran a quick warm-up lap and landed a swift kick to the back of Black Adam's knees, knocking him to the ground in surprise.

Black Adam yelled out in anger and jumped up immediately as Wally sped away. "We're under attack!" He announced to the other villains.

"Annnnnd thanks for blowing our cover, Kid Genius," growled Artemis to the speedster via mind-link.

"Aw come on, that's the dude who broke my arm!" Kid Flash protested brandishing his arm in front of her face.

"As if I had forgotten you moping around and malingering for two weeks when it happened!" she said swatting his arm away.

"Um, guys," called Robin from his head first lunge at Amazo. "Little help over here?"

Kid Flash and Artemis realized that their team had each squared up with an eager villain. Robin took on Amazo, Zatanna took on Vertigo, Superboy went after Ultra-Humanite, Aqualad challenged Poison Ivy while Miss Martian took on Wotan.

"Oh. Right," said Artemis nocking an arrow and jumping into the fray.

"Dibs on Black Adam!" yelled Wally as he disappeared in blur.

"Uh fine," conceded Artemis as she checked her aim from Black Adam to Atomic Skull.

As the battle raged on, Aqualad was able to electrocute Poison Ivy and knock her out of the fight. Robin out-maneuvered Amazo, forcing him to stumble into Superboy's path.

Too much experience with Amazo fueled Superboy's efforts to neutralize the android as quickly as possible. Within a few minutes, Superboy was able to beat the human-ape down long enough to grab Amazo and rip him clean in half at the waist. He then tossed the two pieces into the shadows. Satisfied, he turned away just in time to pummel the monkey as he tried to get up.

Meanwhile, Captain Veritgo and Zatanna were locked in a fight of their own. But since Ultra-Humanite was out of the fight, Superboy took on Vertigo so that the witch could begin casting her spells and getting the hostages to safety.

"Robin!" Called Kaldur mentally once he realized that Amazo, Ultra-Humanite and Ivy were out of the fight. "Go now!"

"On it!" said Robin through the team's mental connection as he ducked a shot from Black Adam, threw down a smoke bomb and bounded into the shadows. Kid Flash stepped in to keep challenging Adam so that the bird could get away. Black Adam landed several shots on the speedster before Miss Martian flew down and stunned Black Adam with her telekinesis.

"Thanks for that one, beautiful" said Wally to Miss Martian as he peeled himself off of the ground and staggered for a few steps before shaking off his bodily injuries. He then sped towards where Black Adam was recovering and glancing into the shadows to see where the Boy Wonder had gone.

"Scared of what I might do to you?" taunted Kid Flash to Black Adam in order to give Robin the full advantage. Angered by the speedster brat's nerve, Black Adam cracked his knuckles, got into a fighting stance and roared in fury at the approaching yellow blur.


	5. Chapter 5

Thanks to KF's diversion, Robin made his way silently to the central control room of the Museum to get to the bottom of the Injustice League's devious deeds. It just wasn't their style to take so many hostages for no reason. There had to be something bigger and darker at work.

He located the room, deactivated the lock and slipped in, re-locking the door behind him in case of any unwanted company. His first order of business was to try to establish comms with the League. But it was impossible. With a frown, he noticed that the entire city was being jammed from a remote location by satellite. _So much for that plan,_ he said to himself before diving into the mainframe. Data flashed before his eyes and his stomach twisted into knots as he discovered the reason for IL's presence at the museum. The team had two disastrous problems. _Heavy_ on the dis.

* * *

Meanwhile, the team continued to fight the enemy down in the main atrium and was still gaining the upper hand. But amidst the shadows, the top half of the Amazo android activated its emergency power cells and began crawling slowly over to where its lower half lay intact. Unawares to anyone on the Team or the League, even, Amazo was capable of reassembling and restoring itself to full power. The android began its repair and noticed, from the shadows, that the one hero capable of foiling their entire operation was unmistakably absent from the brawl.

* * *

"Guys" called Robin to the team through their mental link. "I've got bad news and I've got worse news."

"Now is as good as time as any to inform us of both," said Kaldur between swings at Wotan with his water bearers.

Robin took a deep breath. "Ok, the reason Injustice League chose this museum is because its home to meteorite remains that contain DNA from a Kryptonian. A General from before Krypton was destroyed."

The team each stole a glance at Superboy who kept on punching and thrashing at their enemies. "So?" he growled via link.

Robin continued. "Using advanced LutherCorp technology, the DNA is being processed with human blood and unless I can stop the sequence it looks as though they're creating another creature with genetic similarities... to Doomsday."

Superboy's heart skipped a beat. "No" he breathed. "The last Doomsday was nearly unstoppable and almost killed Superman before the Justice League was formed. Robin, you _have_ to stop it."

"I'll try, but there's more," the hacker continued as the team listened with bated breath. "There's a massive bomb linked to the sequencing. If the project is interfered in any way, the bomb will detonate and take out the entire building and everyone in it. In fact, I'm pretty sure it could take out a few more blocks of Star City along with us."

"This must be why the Lords of Chaos are diverting the League and why the Injustice League is trying to distract us with hostages," said Kid Flash.

"It also, explains the lack of Joker," added Robin. "It's a win-win situation for him and my guess is that the rest of the Injustice League doesn't know about the bomb."

"Robin, is there anything you can do?" asked Artemis as she shot an arrow to distract Count Vertigo from his attack on the Speedster.

"If I can stop the DNA sequencing, it looks like I will have a small window to disarm the bomb. But it'll be tight. I'm really going to have to work some hacking magic up here," said Robin.

"We have to tell the League about this new Doomsday project" said Super Boy through the link. "It will be unstoppable if reincarnated."

"Agreed." Said Kaldur. "Any chance of getting comms to the league?" he inquired to the hacker.

"Sorry, none," he replied.

"Right," acknowledge Kaldur. "Kid Flash, it is imperative that the League learns of this Doomsday project. Can you run a message to the League in Metropolis?"

"It's going to cost me," admitted the speedster, "but, yeah I can. BRB!" And without another psychic word, the speedster was gone.

"Robin, we are depending on you. You can do this," encouraged Kaldur.

"And we'll keep these jerks down here busy while you work. But Robin, you _can't_ let the DNA be reincarnated," stressed Superboy.

"Thanks, Supey, and yeah I kinda figured. I'll keep you all posted. Just be ready to get out of dodge," said Robin as he went to work. _No pressure or anything_ he said to himself as he delved into the most complicated and advanced technology he had ever attempted to hack.


	6. Chapter 6

About twenty minutes later, Kid Flash was back, panting and sweaty but happily announcing that he was able to get the message to Batman and that reinforcements would arrive shortly.

Artemis couldn't help but notice KF's developing fatigue and even the team was shocked to realize that they were starting to be able to make out his frame as he darted around the room.

"Vertigo got you pretty good, didn't he?" called Artemis to KF worriedly as she noticed him clutching his side and wincing slightly.

"That creep always does," he confirmed groaning. He was definitely starting to wear out, as were the rest of them. Miss Martian was tiring quickly and Zatanna's magic was holding but quivering as her energy was being expended. Luckily, Artemis had plenty of arrows remaining and Aqualad was nowhere near tired. And Superboy could go for days and days. Especially now that he knew Superman's life might be on the line.

* * *

Robin, meanwhile, was hacking away and making great progress with disrupting the DNA sequencing. But he was about to have company. The freshly reassembled and reactivated Amazo android was on the hunt for him and already had a good idea where he might be. Slowly, the android climbed the stair case to the museum's main control room.

* * *

 _Almost,_ thought Robin. _Just a few more firewalls, just one more code, and..._ YES!

The DNA sequencing was, at long last, disrupted and the program was terminated. But now the pressure was on to stop the bomb. As soon as he infultrated the program to disarm the explosives, he heard the door to the control room being ripped off its hinges.

Stealing a quick glance behind him, Robin saw Amazo standing at full height in the doorway, eyes glowing as his programming to stop the hacking teenager was optimized. _Now's a really great time for me to finish up here,_ thought Robin dryly.

Robin turned back to the computer and kept working even though he knew the danger that was approaching him. He typed and searched and scrolled faster, sweat beading on his forehead, fingers flying across his holographic keyboard, his brilliant mind buzzing with codes and computer ingenuity.

Amazo, being freshly reactivated, had a clean slate and was not able re-access any of the super powers and abilities it had once garnered from previous fights. He moved slowly but nevertheless was programmed with his own deadly combat skills and fatal strength. He picked up the nearest tool, a long screw driver, and flung it as hard as he could, end over end, at the back of the young hero.

Suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in Robin's left shoulder blade and he cried out but was miraculously able to keep his focus on disarming the bomb. After punching in a few more codes, he stopped typing long enough to glance down at the front of his left shoulder. There, he could see the point of a phillips head screw driver jutting out where he had been completely impaled by the tool. Blood was beginning to run down onto his red vest and the tips of his fingers were starting to go numb. Quickly, he reached back and pulled the tool out of his flesh.

"Mnph!" he groaned as he yanked the screwdriver out and dropped the tool to the ground. With that same hand, he unhooked a bird-a-rang from his utility belt and chucked it blindly behind him. It was a half-assed effort, but the bomb's countdown and the lives of his friends and the hundreds of innocent people were the only things that really mattered to him at the moment.

The android easily caught the bird-a-rang in midair, inspected it and allowed its programing to dictate what was to be done with the weapon.

Then at long last: Robin had a breakthrough.

"Yes!" he exulted to the team. "Project Doomsday Part Deux is officially canexed! And I somehow managed to stop the bomb! But I have company up- agh!"

Robin's message to the team was interrupted when Amazo charged and stabbed at him with the bird-a-rang he had just thrown. This time, Amazo meant to kill, but Robin was able to turn around and jump slightly to the left. The bird took the lethal blade in the meat of his upper right thigh and blood started pouring out almost immediately. Ignoring this fresh pain, Robin threw a punch at Amazo's chest and face, but it did little good against the titanium machine.

Instead, the attack gave Amazo more skills to absorb and emulate. Robin brought his left leg up to kick Amazo square in the chest while pushing off and doing a backhand spring into the shadows. But, due to pain from his fresh injuries, it was a clumsy move and Robin stumbled to the ground, grunting in pain with blood dripping onto the floor around him.

Amazo wasted no time in wrenching one of the large computer consuls out of the wall, and crashed it heavily on top of the hacker's head and back as the bird tried to crawl away to the door. With a sickening crunch and a groan, Robin was flattened to the floor, where he lay trying his best to recover.

Noticing the boy still stirring from underneath the scrapped computer, Amazo yanked him out from under the heap by one of his legs. A dazed Robin hung inverted with his cape and both arms dangling under him as blood rushed to his head.

Still, the Boy Wonder was able to fight. He swung his body upward and threw a left hook at Amazo's head. But Amazo was readily absorbing Robin's skills and blocked the punch with a metal palm. Within the blink of an eye, the android had grabbed Robin's arm and twisted it brutally until an audible _snap_ was heard. Robin cried out in agony before being slammed face first into the floor again by his ankle. The bird coughed a few times, groaned and didn't move.

* * *

Having incapacitated Robin, Amazo took the opportunity to reload the DNA sequencing of the Kryptonian Doomsday creature as he had been instructed. But the android's efforts were discovered to be worthless as opened the program only to find that the Boy Wonder had uploaded his own virus into the system. Realizing that the project was officially sabotaged on his watch, the android's eyes narrowed in anger. He refocused his attention on Robin who, by now, had blearily come to and was meekly trying to scramble away.

"You know," said the young hero, groaning in pain but still defiant. "You hit" -cough- "really hard for" -cough cough- "a toaster on steroids," he taunted trying to buy himself some time and bringing his forearms up in a defensive posture. The android easily grabbed one of Robin's arms, then yanked him forward, slamming the boy's head into an outstretched titanium fist. For good measure, he also gave him a swift kick to the rib cage. Robin tried to rise but he was too weak and delirious at this point. He cried out to his team for help and could barely make out their responses.

"Guys," he called weakly to them. "I'm in deep up here."

"Dude!...You?... Rob?" said the frantic voice of Wally maybe?

"He's in pain!" shrieked a female voice. "Robin, stay… us!"

But Robin was missing a crucial thread of coherence as Amazo struck him again in the chest, again in the face and then tossed him bodily into the wall with a crash.

"I hear… control room. Kid… outta there," came what could have possibly been Conner's voice to the team.

One more solid kick to the back of the head, and the Boy Wonder was knocked finally into blissful unawareness. Amazo took one more satisfying look at the beaten and bloodied young hero and decided it was time to make an end. He began to make one final wind up with a titanium fist and took aim at the boy's heart.

"I found him!" exclaimed Wally peeking in the doorway at his best friend and the android who was winding up for the kill. Wally's heart sank. Rob had been beaten to a pulp by Amazo and was bleeding heavily from what looked like a stab wound on his hip. His black and red uniform was torn in several places and his domino mask had been struck so forcefully that it ripped. One piercing blue eye could be seen bruised and half-lidden where the mask had been slashed away.

The speedster gasped at the state of his friend and, without another moment to lose, ran headlong into the room, grabbed his best friend with a "YOINK!" and took him down the stairwell back to the main atrium.

The team, who had so far managed to contain their enemies and allow the hostages to escape, looked up from their hardwork in alarm. They took in the sight of the beaten, bloodied, and partially unmasked Robin. He looked horrible. With great care, Wally eased Robin down onto the floor.

Kaldur cursed to Poseidon under his breath in Atlantean and all three of the girls shrieked and gasped in dismay.

"Robin!" cried Zatanna, at his side immediately, cupping his cheek in her hand and setting his head onto her lap.

"Who!" demanded the Kryptonian. "Who did this to him?!"

"Amazo," said Wally uncharicteristically panting and sweating from his feats of the day.

"But I tore that piece of trash in half!" exclaimed Super Boy as he finished off the last villain.

"Well he put himself together again I think," shrugged Wally. "Is the League here yet?"

"No, not yet," replied Kaldur.

"Well, I gotta get Rob to the Cave," said Wally unclasping and removing Robin's black and yellow cape for better aerodynamics and hoisting his friend onto his shoulders. He took a deep breath in preparation for another long run.

"Kid, no. You don't have the energy," said Kaldur. "We can take the bioship-

"No! We can't take it until the League gets here and I am faster than the ship anyway. Look at him Kaldur! I don't think he has much time!" cried Wally.

"I see broken bones," admitted Superboy sadly. "And a collapsed lung. Kaldur, he's right."

"Wally you can't run all the way to Happy Harbor after running all day including your trip to Metropolis and back! And besides, you're hurt!" said Artemis.

"Artemis is right, Wally," said Megan, "You can't go!"

"I can! I must!" said Wally clutching his best friend tightly and heading for the wall of the Atrium. "Supey, an exit please?" He looked to Superboy to be provided with an easy way to speed safely out of the building.

Superboy looked to Kaldur who was sadly pensive for a moment before conceding. "Do it," he commanded to the young Kyrptonian. "We will be right behind you as soon as we can."

And with that, Superboy flung a massive piece of concrete through the wall of the museum. Large enough for ten speedsters to pass through at once.

Before Wally could take off, Zatanna stopped him.

"Wait! Before you go," she closed her eyes and waved her hands at Robin's discarded cape. " _Dinb eht sdnuow htiw sih epac_ _!"_ Two large strips of black cape were cleanly torn and wrapped tightly around around each of Robin's stab wounds.

"Good thinking. We're off." With that, Wally and Robin disappeared with a sudden gust of wind.

"Will he make it?" cried Artemis to the group mentally as she watched the silhouette of the speedster and the unconscious acrobat fade through the din of the city.

"I am unsure. But I know he will do his best," said Kaldur.

* * *

About twenty minutes later, the six criminals were tied to each other, and the Amazo Android had been disassembled.

"Shh, guys, I hear something!" exclaimed Conner. "I think it's the League!"

A few seconds later, the Bat Jet and Superman and Wonder Woman could be seen, headed straight for the museum to back up the young Team as promised.


	7. Chapter 7

In a yellow, red and now black blur, Kid Flash ran East down the interstate as quickly as he could to Happy Harbor.

"Just hang on, buddy," Wally said to the unconscious teenager slung over his shoulders in a fireman carry. "I'll get you there in no time and Red will patch you up!" But the speedster was extremely low on juice and starting to lose momentum.

Wally couldn't let himself think about his rapidly depleting energy. Not getting his injured best friend to the Cave was simply not an option. All he could think about was his best friend's life.

* * *

Back in Star City, the remaining members of the Team were joined by Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Flash and Black Canary. The older heroes each looked harried from their battle with the Lords of Chaos, but they were still intent on ensuring that the Injustice League was properly dealt with and that the younger heroes and hostages were safe.

All of the teens begin talking rapidly at once, and Batman had to hold a hand up to silence them. He glared around at the young heroes and noticed the distinct absence of Kid Flash and his own young partner. He frowned.

"Kaldur-ahm," boomed the Dark Knight's deep voice throughout the museum atrium. "Start talking."

Aqualad proceeded to tell a step by step account of what happened at the museum. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all shared a look of extreme alarm when Kaldur confirmed what Kid Flash had told them in Metropolis.

"So then where are Robin and Kid?" asked Flash pointedly as he appeared at Batman's side and the Dark Knight's cape fluttered with the sudden gust. Flash looked just as tired as the other heroes did.

"That is our final problem," said Kaldur sadly. "Kid Flash left with Robin. He's going to try to run him all the way to Happy Harbor."

Even Batman looked shocked at this news. Flash started vibrating in distress. He looked sadly to Batman and Superman and reported "He won't make it. Even I don't have the juice right now to make half of the trip! And you all saw the state of him when he delivered to message to us in Metropolis!"

"It's alright, Barry," said Superman consoling the senior speedster and turning to face the Dark Knight. "Bruce, I'll go get them."

Batman nodded tersely in agreement.

Just as the big guy was about to leap into a supersonic flight path, he hesitated and met Conner's gaze.

"I could use your help," he said to his young clone with an outstretched hand.

Stunned, but without hesitation, Conner grasped his genetic template by the wrist and allowed himself to be taken along for the flight to find KF and Robin.

* * *

Halfway to Happy Harbor, Wally's sides were lathered and soaked in sweat from his efforts. Blood from Robin's copious wounds was bleeding through the strips of cape and began to run down Wally's back and front in sticky slow streams, but there was no stopping him.

Three quarters of the way there, Wally began to feel faint and blood started to pour from his nose. Instead of stopping to rest, he wiped the blood away with the back of his hand, gritted his teeth and pushed on, pumping his legs and his arm that wasn't holding onto Robin, harder and harder. "Hang on buddy," he panted encouragingly to himself as much to his friend.

Wally's muscles were burning like they had never burned before and for the first time ever, his goggles were badly fogging up. He ripped them off his face with some effort and tossed the eyewear to the roadside. By now, an uncomfortable pressure started to build up in the young speedsters head. He was coming up on the city limits of Happy Harbor when his speed finally slowed to a jog, then a walk and then a trudge.

 _No,_ he thought still placing one foot after the other despite his failing body. _Gotta get Rob to the Cave… He needs… he…_

And on that final thought, Wally's heart finally gave out. His eyes rolled up in his head and his entire body went limp. He and Robin tumbled bodily to the pavement and both lay unmoving.


	8. Chapter 8

"Keep a sharp eye out for them," called Superman to Conner as they flew high above the road from Star City to Happy Harbor, searching for any sign of the missing young heroes.

"There! What's that?" yelled Conner to the Man of Steel pointing at a small red object in the shoulder of the road.

The two dropped out of the sky to investigate.

"They're still warm, and wet with with condensation," said Conner to Superman, inspecting the speedster's favorite pair of goggles and tucking them away into one of his cargo pockets. "I don't know how he'll be able to see."

"He must be managing somehow," said Superman with hope. "Come on, we can't be far behind."

With that, the Man and Boy of Steel were airborne and searching the road again.

They were almost to the city limits of Happy Harbor when Superman Spotted a red and yellow and a red and black heap laying in the road up ahead.

"There!" he shouted to his clone and their speed through the air somehow quickened.

* * *

Conner could now see the outline of both of his friends laying cataleptic in the road. Superman slowed slightly before landing next to them so as not to create a shock wave.

Wally had passed out with Robin still on his shoulders. He lay face down on the pavement half on top of the younger and smaller hero's body. Robin lay face up, still as death with blood pool slowly beneath him. Superman and Conner quickly disentangled the two best friends and flipped Wally on his back. He had a large gash on his head from where he'd hit the road and blood was slowly oozing from his nose onto and around his mouth.

Doing a cursory sweep of the status of the two young heroes, each of the Kryptonians dawned matching worried frowns. Superman lifted up each of Kid Flash's eye lids to inspect his pupils. They were rolled up into the back of his head the whites of the young speedsters eyes were now completely red where all his blood vessels there had burst. "He's out cold," reported Superman to Conner, encouraging him to do the same inspection on Robin.

Conner peeled what little remained of the black mask away from Robin's face. Careful not to further injure the bird's busted right eyebrow, he inspected the pupil's underneath each eyelid. "Pupil's aren't reacting. I suspect head trauma." Kryptonians didn't need to check or feel for breathing and a pulse... they could hear such things.

"Let's get to Red Tornado and Dr. Thompkins. Conner, you take Robin and gently bound him up to the Cave," said Superman. "Wally's in greater danger right now. I'll fly him straight to the infirmary."

"Right," said Conner gently gathering Robins limp and bleeding form into his strong arms.

Before Superman took off, he sent a message.

"Superman to the Cave," he said before Red Tornado's voice answered "Go ahead."

"I'm bringing Kid Flash to the infirmary, ETA 1.5 seconds. Superboy will be there with Robin within thirty seconds."

"Twenty," growled Superboy confidently to the Man of Steel and protectively clutching the Boy Wonder to his chest.

"Acknowledged," said Red's Tornado's voice through Superman's ear piece. "We are ready to receive them."

"Red," added Superman sadly right before he took off, "Wally's not breathing."

Conner didn't even wait for Superman to disappear before he was bounding Robin up the hill to the Cave.


	9. Chapter 9

As promised, Red Tornado and Dr. Thompkins were ready for the two young heroes to be brought in. After receiving a request from Red Tornado, Martian Manhunter had also come to the Cave infirmary to bolster the ranks of the trained medical staff.

"Put him here," said the young doctor, urgently motioning for the Man of Steel to place Wally on an empty bed as she began her emergency examination and procedures. "Wally? Wally, can you hear me?" There was no response.

"What on earth happened?" she exclaimed taking Wally's stats and yelling to Red Tornado for oxygen and an IV.

"As far as we know, he just ran until he couldn't," admitted Superman.

"That's true," said Conner announcing his arrival and cradling the unconscious Boy Wonder in his arms. "Where should I put him, Doc?"

"Over there!" She motioned to another empty bed and asked Martian Manhunter to take charge of him. Connor gently deposited the bird into the empty bed and stood aside and out of the way as Martian Manhunter used his telekinesis to cut away Robin's uniform.

"Clark," cried the doctor, "can you stay? We're going to need a lot of help."

"I can," said Clark at once. "Tell me what you need."

"I can help, too" added Conner eagerly.

"Good," said Dr. Thompkins. "Cut away Wally's uniform, now. Here's what I need..."

The medical team embarked on their long and arduous journey to save the two ailing young heroes.

* * *

"Barry, please sit down. You're melting the deck, not to mention driving me insane," said Batman to the agitated speedster as the Batjet flew swiftly from Belle Reve prison straight for the Cave.

The mission had come to a neat ending and the seven villains were taken back into custody. Batman had ensured that Wayne Tech was contracted with the re-securing and analysis of the meteorite.

"How can you be so calm? Aren't you worried for Robin?" the Flash was near hysterics and threw himself into the copilots seat. "Didn't you hear what Doc said about Wally? Bleeding from the nose and not responding to anything! Kid must have literally ran himself into the ground!"

"I heard what she said and yes of course I am concerned for Robin and for Wallace. But our worrying won't help them. They're tough, Barry. Much tougher than we were at their age. I have no doubt that they'll pull through."

"If you say so, Bruce" said the Flash standing up again to continue his barely visible pacing within the confines on the jet. "Man, I wish I could fly right about now!"

"Don't get greedy," growled Batman reminding the speedster that he was lucky to have gotten what he had and survived.

"It's not greed, it's science," said Barry.

Batman said nothing else as he piloted the jet into the hanger at the Mountain. _Hang in there, Richard_ he thought, secretly in misery about state of the two young heroes.

* * *

When the Batjet landed, Flash wasted no time in racing toward the infirmary to check on his nephew.

With a _whoosh_ , Dr. Thompkins was startled out of her documentation as her stack of paper almost went flying from her clipboard. Apparently, the Flash had arrived.

"Leslie," pleaded Barry walking over to where his nephew lay in a deep slumber, receiving both fluids and nutrients intravenously. "He looks a wreck. How is he?"

Wally West really did look the better part of corpse. His usually cheery face lay slack and frowning as he slept and his skin was pale and clammy to the touch. The young speedster had run himself to the brink of death and, in the end, didn't even have the energy to breathe on his own. Luckily, Red Tornado was able to breath for him and pump him full of fluids until his heart beat strong enough to sustain ample cardiovascular health. Once Wally's blood pressure was up and he could breathe on his own, Red had backed off, checked him over and alerted Leslie to his success.

"He's completely and utterly exhausted and has depleted almost every single ounce of energy that he had stored in his body. When Clark brought him in, he wasn't even breathing and his pulse was very weak. But Red gave him oxygen and was able to bring his blood pressure up and get him breathing on his own. Wally is going to be fine, Barry. Clark and Conner were able to find him so quickly that there won't be any brain damage from the minute or so he went without oxygen. He's a strong kid. All we have to do now is give him the fluids and nutrients he needs to heal himself and wait for his body to recover. I put some butterfly stitches on his forehead. Clark thinks thats where he impacted the road after he fell."

"How long will he sleep?" asked Barry.

"You're guess is as good as mine, especially seeing as you know much more about the unique anatomy that you two share," said Leslie.

"He'll be out cold for a few days and then he'll be back to himself," said Bruce suddenly, startling both Barry and Leslie. As usual, the Dark Knight had snuck in silently.

"What of Robin?" asked Batman walking over to his partner's bedside and taking in full damage that the sleeping young hero's body had sustained while sacrificing his well-being to protect his teammates and sabotage the Doomsday.

Robin was as pale as the sheets that he lay on but was freshly stitched, bandaged, casted and sleeping soundly like his best friend in the bed beside him. He had a clean white cast on his left arm which was placed in a sling in order to immobilize the awful wound in his left shoulder. He sported two black eyes, a few stitches above a busted right eyebrow and a fat lip. But Bruce knew that there was more damage than could be seen with the human eye.

"Robin has two severe stab wounds, one puncture in the left shoulder from a dowel-like instrument and one in the right hip from a curved blade. He sustained a pneumothorax but J'onn was able to re-inflate it. His left arm is broken at the radius and ulna, probably from a twisting mechanism, but the breaks are clean and will heal nicely. He has three fractured ribs, from blunt force. He was beat up pretty badly by Amazo and has other various cuts and contusions on many places on his body as you can see the ten stitches I put on his right eyebrow. In addition, he sustained a pretty nasty concussion," reported Leslie to the Caped Crusader.

"Reminds me of his first year as my partner," mumbled Bruce.

"What was that?" asked Barry when he couldn't hear what the Dark Knight had said.

"Nothing. Is there anything I can do to help?"

"No," said Leslie. "Everything is under control. Although we do owe many thanks to the Kryptonians for finding Wally and Robin, bringing them in and helping us treat them. You two need to go get some rest. Come back in the morning and you can both see if your proteges are ready to come around."

"We will," said Bruce taking Barry by the elbow and dragging him away from his nephew's bedside. "Come on, Barry, you heard the doctor. Let's let them get some rest while we do the same."

"You hear that, Kiddo?" said Flash to his nephew before letting Batman lead him out of the infirmary. "Rest up and we'll be back to check on you soon. Good job getting Robin as far as you did. You did good, Kid." Barry lightly ruffled Wally's mop of ginger hair and finally exited with Batman.

"You did well, too, son," thought Batman to Richard, even though he knew he couldn't hear him.


	10. Chapter 10

Later that night / early morning hours.

* * *

Slowly but surely, Robin began to climb his way out of the deep slumber that he had been in since surgery.

As his sluggish mind began to sift through the drowsy fog that clouded it, he began to feel the soreness of his body. His left arm from the top of his shoulder to his wrist was felt like he was being punctured by pins and needles. His chest was incredibly sore each time he drew breath, his right hip had a deep ache, and his head was pounding. On top of everything, someone had turned his eyelids to lead and he was having and incredibly difficult time trying to open them.

When he finally was able to crack them open just a tiny bit, he realized where he was and events began to rush back to him. Instinctively, he reached up to touch his mask, but he was so weak and tired that before he could reach it, a large callused hand gently caught his own and lowered it back down to his side.

"Easy partner," said a deep, familiar voice. "No mask. You've had a rough day."

Robin looked up into the face of his de-cowled adoptive father. Despite the immense pain he was in, he was immediately comforted by the familiar brown eyes, dark hair and darker stubble.

"Nnn- Bruce?" it pained Robin even to speak softly and he found that his throat was dry and scratchy.

At once, a glass of water was placed to his lips and tilted slightly so that he could slowly sip the contents in the cup.

"Slowly, son. Like I said, you've had a rough day." Bruce waited patiently for Robin to have his fill and set the glass of water back onto the table. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Thanks," said Robin enjoying the feeling of the cool water in his parched mouth and throat. He concentrated. "I remember you sending us to Star City… there was –nnn- there was a doomsday project, Bruce. Did the League get the word?"

"We did," affirmed Bruce. "Go on."

"Ok good. I managed to stop the DNA reincarnation, and then… there was a –nnn- a massive bomb activated when I tampered with the project. I stopped that too… but Amazo… it was Amazo. He –nnn- was able to attack me while I hacking."

"All true," confirmed Bruce. "I'm pleased that you remember as much seeing as you sustained a pretty bad concussion. What else do you recall, Dick?"

Robin closed his eyes and let the waves of pain in his chest subside before continuing. "I let Amazo get the drop on me while I was hacking, and then he pretty much dictated the terms of the rest of our fight. I called to the Team for help and … nnn … that's the extent of my memory. What happened? How did I get here?"

"Amazo knocked you out cold, but before he could deal the fatal blow, Kid Flash located you and extracted you from the situation. By then, the Team had rounded up all of the criminals and safely liberated all of the hostages."

"Sweet," said Robin visibly relieved and relaxing into his pillows. "But was anyone else on the Team hurt? Who brought me to the Cave?"

"You have Kid Flash to thank for that as well," added Bruce. "He ran with you on his shoulders from the museum in Star City all the way to the city limits of Happy Harbor."

Robin furrowed his brow, ignoring the pain this caused to the long sutured and swollen wound above his right eye. "Wait.. he did what?!" With a rush of adrenaline, Robin began to worry. "Nnn- Bruce that can't be right. I was pretty occupied in the control room, but from what I could tell, Wally was spent."

Robin's eyes then widened in revelation. "You said Happy Harbor _city limits_ …" He then tried to sit up all the way and cried out in pain as his many injuries protested. "What happened to Wally? Where is he?" By now Robin was panting with concern, pain and the effort to sit up.

"Easy, partner!" said Bruce shocked at the bird's sudden burst of energy. "You're going to hurt yourself even more! Lie down and listen!"

The daddy bats tone in his voice brooked no argument and years and years of training and close quarters with the Caped Crusader taught Richard to obey. Reluctantly he laid back down, sweating from the pain his spontaneous efforts had brought anew.

"Wally gave it everything he had, but he ran out of energy. He lost consciousness when his body finally gave out on him." Robin gasped in worry.

"However," Bruce pointedly continued before Robin could work himself up again, "Clark and Conner found you both and were able to get you to the cave infirmary within minutes of Wally's collapse. He's here with you, son. He's resting and he's going to be just fine."

"Oh God, Wally," said Rob his eyes stinging with tears. "He risked himself _majorly_ for me. I don't know what to say… I feel so guilty."

"There is no need for that, son. You had just risked yourself for him, the rest of the Team and hundreds of civilians. I say it was a fair trade."

Robin stared down into his lap and Bruce reached down and cupped his chin.

"He's going to be fine," Bruce said consoling his young partner. "Thanks to Clark, Conner, and the medical staff here, you both are."

Robin looked up pleadingly into the eyes of his mentor. "Can I see him? Please? I just need to see for myself that he's alright. I mean... Wally and I are… he's my best…"

"I know, partner," said Bruce calmly "I am going to help you get a good look at him but there are conditions. One: After I let you see Wally for yourself, you will lie back down immediately. Two: You clear your head of any guilt that you have about Wally's efforts and injury."

"Ok, got it," began Robin. "Now can I-

\- "Three," continued Bruce refusing to be interrupted. "I page Red Tornado before I leave and have him come give you some sedatives and some pain relief. I can tell you're in a lot of pain, Dick. And I need you well-rested and at my side again as soon as possible."

Robin nodded and that's all it took for Bruce to know that it was a solemn promise to obey all of the stipulations.

"Good," said Bruce. "Deep breath now."

Bruce leaned down and wrapped his strong arms gently around Robin's shoulders and torso, taking his weight from the bed and allowing him to look over to the other side of the room where Wally lay sleeping.

Robin failed to hide his groan of agony at the movement, but was intent on getting a good look at Wally.

"Breathe, Richard," comforted Bruce holding him up. "You see? I told you, he's right here with you."

Robin breathed in and out, ignoring the agony and glancing over to the sleeping form of his best friend in the entire world. He took a few moments to see that Wally's chest was rising and falling slowly, deeply and peacefully and that all of the monitors by his bed side had healthy readings.

With great care, Bruce eased his young ward back down onto the bed, and pulled the covers up around him after checking to ensure that none of his bandages had bled through in the process.

"Like I said, Wally is here with you. You can keep each other company until you're both back to 100%"

"Thank you," said Robin trying to relax. "Waking up to you is such a comfort, Bruce. Before you hit that page button, can you help me with my mask?"

Bruce sighed and picked up a fresh Robin mask from the bedside table. "There's something you need to know, Richard. Your mask was damaged beyond function in the fight. Not only did your team see most of you face, but Conner and Clark removed it to assess your condition and were unable to reapply it before bringing you to the cave without further hurting you. You can keep wearing it and your dark glasses, but you need to know, the Team will undoubtedly be able to deduce your identity."

Robin sighed and frowned. This was so bad for Batman. "Bruce... I'm so sorry. Now they'll know your identity too. It's my fault. I don't know what to say."

"Dick, there's nothing to be sorry about and what's done is done. My own closest friends and oldest allies know my true identity, and you deserve the choice to share that with your closest friends and allies too. I'm not saying you need to tell the whole world who you are, but you can decide who to trust."

Robin thought about it for a long moment. "I'll leave it off then. I think it's time my closest pals really get to know the real me."

Bruce smiled. "Then I'll just take this home and and put it with your supplies. We don't want that handsome face of yours to scar anyway. Got to keep the family looking dapper."

 _Jokes,_ Robin thought astonished. _Batman has jokes. He must really be happy that I'm alright._

Robin blushed and scowled. No matter how deadly and skilled he ever became, he would always be a 'pretty boy' in the eyes of Bruce, Alfred and Babs.

"Good man," said Bruce with a grin and affectionately ruffling the short black hair. "Rest up, I'll see you in the morning."

* * *

Dick watched his father figure reach down and press the call button on his bedside and then silently take his leave.

Within seconds, Red Tornado entered the room. But Dick knew it was more than enough time for Bruce to already be on his way to Gotham.

Red Tornado was at his side at once, checking his vitals, his bandages and asking in his robotic monotone. "It is good to see awake. How do you feel, Robin?"

"Hey Reddie," answered Robin wincing. "Feeling the –nnn- aster."

"Your facial expression, body language and the fact that you have summoned me indicate otherwise, Robin. My studies in human medicine dictate that I should administer morphine for pain and sedatives for sleeping and subsequent recovery. Do you concur?"

"Whatever you say, Red."

Without another word, Red Tornado administered both drugs to Robin's IV and gave each of his bandages and exam. The android was surprisingly gentle with his ministrations.

"Your shoulder wound requires a clean dressing. You will feel some discomfort from the process."

But Robin was already feeling sleepy and began to drift off as Red gathered his tools and began his work.

"Red," he said sleepily before passing out. "Real name's… Richard. Call me…. Dick." And he was out.

"I will do so, Dick," the android said to deaf ears.


	11. Chapter 11

As expected, Leslie was greeted by Batman and Flash first thing the next morning so that they could check on Robin and Wally.

"They're both doing just fine," she reported as she led the two men into the room where the young heroes were still resting. "Robin came around in the middle of the night. He didn't want to admit it, but he was in a lot of pain. Red Tornado gave him some sedatives and some medication for the pain and he has been sleeping since. Wally, still hasn't come around yet. But he is looking much better, don't you think?"

Indeed, some of Wally's impish glow was returning to his cheeks, and the butterfly stitches on his forehead had been removed, showing a faint pink line where the gash had already healed. But he slept on.

* * *

It wasn't until the morning of the next day, that Wally's eyelids started to twitch.

This time, Flash's vigil was joined by an eager and tired looking Artemis. They both were sitting by his bed when Flash noticed his nephew starting to wake up.

"Wally? Wally, can you hear me?" Flash grabbed his nephews hand and gave it a squeeze. "Come on, Kid, that's it. Time to wake up."

"Mmmnph," groaned the young speedster as his green eyes finally were able to crack themselves open a small amount. He looked to his Uncle and then to Artemis.

The sight of Wally's eyes was a quite unnerving. Not only were they dropping and befuddled, but the whites of them were completely red with blood. Artemis' heart went out to him- he really had poured everything he had left in trying to get Robin to the Cave.

Wally groaned again and tried to move but his body was still too exhausted. "Where's Rob?" he mumbled suddenly, his eyes darting open faster than either of his visitors would have imagined possible in his state.

"Shhh, easy now Bay Watch," said Artemis softly and running her long archer's fingers through his hair and calming him down. "He's here. And he's alright, Wally, thanks to you."

"That's right, Kid. You're best batbuddy is going to be good as new in no time. Just like you," said the Flash. "How do you feel?"

"Uncle Barry, Arty," groaned Wally looking more and more confused and exhausted by the second, "I'm…. so… tired…" The young speedster drifted off to sleep again.

* * *

When he woke up hours later, he was elated to see a casted and bandaged albeit whole and conscious Robin, crouching on the end of his bed like a gargoyle.

"Dude, finally," said Robin quietly, near to tears and smiling ear to to ear. "You've been asleep for days."

Wally smiled sleepily to see his best friend. "Bro, get off me. A man need's to get his beauty rest if he wants to look this good" said Wally groggily and gesturing to his own face, knowing full well that he probably looked terrible.

Robin laughed. "Um, Wally, have you seen yourself lately? It's frightening." He and carefully maneuvered himself off the end of the bed. He then limped up to the head of the bed and slowly leaned in a give his best friend a hug.

"You mean frighteningly handsome?" Asked Wally sleepily as he somehow convinced his tired muscles to sluggishly return the embrace.

"Ow dude, watch the arm," said Robin wincing in pain and ruining the moment.

"Whoops sorry, buddy. I'm just so 'whelmed' to see you," said Wally with an apologetic smirk as he closed his eyes again.

At long last, Robin carefully drew himself away and looked the speedster up and down. "Nice shirt, by the way."

Wally was on his way back to dream world when Robin's words struck a note in his memory. All of the clothes at the Mount Justice infirmary were donated by the members of the League and most were in hilarious taste. Robin was sporting an old Smallville High School P.E. t-shirt that had "Kent" written neatly in permanent marker on the front. Despite all its washings, it was still way to big for the acrobat. Wally had been garbed in a purple t-shirt printed with alternating images of Wonder Woman in various poses and hearts.

"Aw dude! Who put me in this!" groaned the speedster as his best friend struggled to contain his laughter.

"Don't look at me!" said Robin with both hands raised in defense. "I'm wearing a tent over here!"

Wally, realizing that Robin was indeed wearing a shirt that look like it could sleep three to four, had to laugh. "Ahh well, at least Wonder Woman is a total babe," he said satisfied, easing himself back down into his pillows. "Bro... do NOT tell Artemis I said that."

"Tell Artemis you said what?" said the Archer as she suddenly strode into the room holding three bags of tacos and two milkshakes.

Wally looked strikingly guilty and his tongue was tied as Robin snickered uncontrollably.

"So smooth!" exclaimed the younger hero.

"I thought you'd like the t-shirt," said Artemis with a saucy grin. "I picked it out for you."

Wally sighed in relief. He might just be off the hook for this one.

"Is any one hungry?" asked the archer setting the food down on the table between the two beds.

"No, sorry," admitted Robin. "These pain meds I'm on are messing with my stomach."

"I figured, Rob, don't worry. Zatanna will be by later I'm sure she'd more than happy to bring you something light. Bay Watch?

"Don't mind if I do," said Wally reaching over for a sip of one of the shakes. But half way to the table his arm began to shake uncontrollably. Artemis was at his side with speed worthy of a speedster.

"Here, let me," she said holding the straw up to Wally's mouth so that he could take a few sips. Before the milkshake was even half empty he was already too exhausted to drink anymore. She set the drink down, wiped his mouth and pulled the covers up to his chin.

"Thanks, Arty," Wally mumbled softly.

"Think nothing of it," she said kissing his forehead and taking her leave.

Robin's heart was touched by this display of affection.

"You should get back to bed," Wally said to Robin, "you look like you aren't supposed to be up yet."

"Yeah, not for another week" said Robin dejectedly easing himself painfully back down onto his own bed. "I heard the story from the others, Wally. Thank you so much pal. You nearly killed yourself trying to get me to the Cave, I owe you big time."

"Aw, Dick it was nothing" said Wally. "Well actually it was quite epic"- began Wally with a devilish smirk and a twinkle in his eye.

"Ok, ok," said Dick smiling and shaking his head. It seemed like the speedster was starting to feel like his usual self again. "How do you feel? You made us all the way to the outskirts of Happy Harbor, even Flash is in disbelief."

"Well, you know how Supey is faster than a speeding locomotive?" began Wally.

"Yeah," said Dick, unsure where Wally was going with this one.

"Well I feel like said locomotive hit me, backed over me and ran into me again. I honestly have never felt this tired. Is this what normal people feel like when they're sick?"

"Totally," said Dick "but you have sickness symptoms on steroids. You're going to feel fatigued for a while yet, Wally. It's safe to say the neither of us are going to be getting to see any action any time soon.

"Oh," said Wally knowing that what Robin said was true. "Well, look on the bright side."

"And what's that?" asked Dick, immediately wishing he hadn't.

"Now you get the distinct pleasure of spending all your convalescent time with the Wall-Man!" said Wally happily and launching into a tired rant about how much he hates Count Vertigo, how much he totally one-upped Amazo and how badly he thinks that Robin should try to hook up with Zatanna, all at once.

"Noooooo," cried Dick in mock-misery. "Who put me in a recovery room with Kid Mouth? What did I ever do to deserved this!"

"Aw come on, dude" said Wally laughing. "You know you love me."

Dick had to laugh too.

"Wally," he began, "about Zatanna. I've been thinking..."

Zzzz.

"Wally?"

Zzzz.

For the first time ever, Dick received no response save the snores of his speedster best friend.

 _Good,_ thought the Boy Wonder. _He needs it._ _Badly._


	12. Chapter 12

Early the next morning, Conner made his way to the infirmary to check on Wally and Robin. Just as he was about to open the door to their room, he was stopped by Flash and Superman.

Flash grabbed his hand and shook it vigorously. "Superman told me how instrumental you were in finding the boys and how big of a help you were in the hospital. Thank you, Conner."

Conner was abashed. "Oh, it was honestly nothing." He a returned the handshake modestly and then dug his hand into the pocket of his pants to fish out Wally's goggles. "We found these in the road." He handed the red goggles to the speedster.

"Actually, Conner spotted those on his own," corrected Superman. "I had no idea we were coming up on them until he said so."

Flash looked sadly down at the goggles, took them into his own hand and gave Conner and appraising look. "Wally won't be using them for a while yet, but still, these are his favorite. Thank you." Flash placed the goggles up to his heart and turned the corner to leave the two Kryptonians alone.

Conner looked away from his mentor awkwardly aware of the appraisingly look that he was receiving from the Man of Steel.

"You really did excellent work, Conner. I had no idea that you were so skilled with medicine," began Clark.

"Its from Cadmus," shrugged Conner.

"But still, you had the fortitude to remember and the guts to use the skills," said Clark.

"They're my friends. Any one would have done the same," allowed Conner.

Clark smiled at the youth's humility.

"I wanted to give you this," he said holding out and ear piece to the clone. "It's linked to mine and I- well I was thinking I can help you train and develop your power. If you- want I mean- only if you want," said Superman sheepishly rubbing the back of his head.

"Oh," said Conner taken aback. "I-" he grasped the earpiece and held it tight. "Well the truth is, I've been wanting this moment for a long time. Thank you."

Superman's eyes lit up and he nodded his head in approval. "Glad to hear it. Call me anytime." He smiled. "Ok, get in there and see your friends, they've been asking about you." He gave Conner's shoulder an affectionate squeeze and flew off.

* * *

Conner opened the door slowly in case either of his two ailing friends were sleeping. For the first time ever, he entered a room containing both the young speedster and the Boy Wonder and was met with silence.

He pulled a chair between both of their beds and took a heavy seat. He looked over his two friends and winced at the sight of them, but was happy to see how much better they looked then when he and Superman had brought them in.

"Hey Supey," came a soft voice to his left.

He turned to Robin to see two blue eyes regarding him sleepily.

"Robin, I'm sorry. I hope I didn't wake you?" said Conner.

"Nah, just resting my eyes. As you probably noticed," Robin said alluding to his lack of mask and lack of dark glasses.

"Yeah about that... I'm sorry I removed your mask. But it was already falling off and I wanted to check your pupils for light reactivity," said Conner.

"Dude," began Robin. "Totally cool. I was going to tell the Team about my identity eventually anyway. My name's Richard, but I go by Dick. It's retro."

Conner smiled. "Ok, Dick."

Just then, Wally stirred and yawned and blinked.

"Mmm," he groaned blinking into the dim light. "Supey? Is that you?"

"Yeah, Wally its me. Good to see you awake, pal," said Conner.

"Would't be if it wasn't for you dude. Thank you," Wally managed before passing out again and filling the room with soft snores.

"We better relish in this silence from Kid Mouth," said Richard with a smirk. "He'll be back to himself soon and he'll be so rested, we won't have a moments peace ever again." Richard then stifled a yawn.

"So true," agreed Conner. "I best let you get some rest, too." Conner stood up and made for the door.

"Thank you, Conner," came Richard's quiet voice from the other side of the room. "Oh, and how is Zatanna taking all of this?" he asked.

Conner smirked. "I haven't spoken to her but she's been pretty 'chalant' about how 'whelmed' she is that you're alright."

Smiling, Richard blushed ever so slightly as he leaned back into his pillow and closed his eyes.

Conner eased the door closed behind him and happily went to train with the rest of the Team.


	13. Chapter 13

Later that week.

* * *

The Team returned from a short mission in a nearby town, showered and changed, and made their way to the common room where they found the convalescing speedster and acrobat resting on the large green couch. The two best friends were on the way to recovery but still were not anywhere near 100%.

Despite the massive amounts of food that he was consuming, Wally still couldn't boost his energy enough to stay awake for more than a few hours at a time. His first and only attempt to run at full speed had caused him to pass out and set his nose to bleeding again. A frustrated Black Canary had scolded the unconscious Wally as a Conner lifted him up and carried him back to his room. He woke up ten hours later, not remembering how he had gotten in his bed.

Richard was a different story. He had sustained injuries of this nature in the past and knew how to recover smartly so that he could come back even stronger than before. He waited patiently for his bones and deep wounds to heal and prepared himself mentally for the hours of rigorous physical therapy that were in his near future. He was however, doing it without the help of any strong pain killers. Despite the large amount of pain he was constantly in, narcotics and other strong pain killers tended to make him loopy and it was worth being spared from being recorded by one of his many amused team members.

Wally was stretched out languidly on the cushions, a Play Station controller in one hand, almost on the verge of dozing off when he heard the Team enter into the kitchen.

He yawned and dipped his head upside-down over the back of the couch so that he could look at Artemis.

"How'd it go?" he asked.

"It went well," said Kaldur.

"It was easy," said Conner.

"It was magical," said Zatanna.

"It was fun!" said Megan.

"Aw man!" whined Wally. "You should have let me come!"

"So you could, what, snore at the enemy?" scolded Artemis, looking at the Speedster and crossing her arms. "You're no where near healed Kid _Crash_."

"Am too!" argued the Speedster. "I can stay awake longer than Dick now!"

"Oh goody!" said the archer sarcastically. "You can stay awake longer than your best friend who has ten broken bones and two severe stab wounds. Good job."

"Hey," interjected the bird as he scrolled on his iPad through a case he was researching. "One, you two need to get a room and two, you need to not drag me into this. And anyway, nose is cartilage so I technically only have two broken bones." He brandished his casted arm up at no one in particular to belabor his point and continued his reading.

"Yeah!" said Wally, triumphant that Artemis was wrong. "Only two!"

Artemis rolled her eyes. "You're completely missing the point!" She glared at him, but then took in the state of him and her expression softened. "You hungry?"

"Starved," said the speedster realizing that it had been over two hours since he last ate. Flash had told him that while he was awake he needed to intake as many nutrients and calories that he could.

"I'll make pizzas," said the archer.

"I'll help!" said the Martian happily.

"I'll set the table," said the Kryptonian, gathering plates and utensils.

A little while later, four pizzas were baking in the oven, and the team sat on the green sofa as Kaldur flipped through the channels.

Conner, who was sitting next to Dick, noticed the acrobat fidgeting uncomfortably and caught a few fleeting looks of pain cross his face. He frowned.

"Have you been taking your medicine?" he asked the acrobat suspiciously. "You don't look so good."

Dick locked his iPad and set it down onto his lap and sighed. "I would, but after that video that you guys took of me became an internet sensation, I've sworn off opium-based pain killers for... oh the rest of eternity."

Conner shared a guilty look of amusement with Zatanna. The witch was sitting on the other side of the acrobat and looked up from petting Wolf when she heard Conner calling out Dick.

"We promise it won't happen again," she said.

"Yeah," said Conner soberly. "Come on, I hate seeing you in pain. And we want you back out there with us sooner than later."

"I hate seeing it too," said Zatanna her face reddening. "You in pain that is."

"Thanks, but Wally and Artemis are pure evil when it comes to social media. I'm not taking the pills," said Dick, resolved.

"I got you covered," said the witch closing her eyes and waving and chanting inconspicuously. " _On erom suoiralih soediv fo darhcir deggurd_."

Dick and Conner both felt a momentary warm sensation emitting from the smart phones in their pockets.

"See?" said the clone. "Now where's your medicine."

Dick looked at Zatanna and then back to Conner. "On the kitchen table" he admitted reluctantly.

"Got it," said the clone heaving himself off of the couch and heading toward the kitchen.

"Thanks for that," said Dick turning his attention to Zatanna. The witch had started rubbing and scratching behind Wolf's ears again but looked up when he addressed her. "And thank you for, you know, the first aid you gave me back in Star City."

Zatanna laughed. "That was hardly first aid. And besides, I ruined your cape."

Robin smiled. "It was already ruined. But if you're so sorry about it, I know how you can make it up to me." He inched gingerly a little closer to the young witch.

"Yeah?" she asked slyly inching closer to him too.

"Yeah," he said leaning in to give her kiss when-

"Here you go," said Conner holding up two pills and glass of water right between the two young heroes. "Down the hatch, Dick."

Both startled, the two quickly pulled away.

"Oh!" stammered the bird. "Thanks, Supey."

"No worries," said the clone happily retaking his seat next to Dick and putting his arm around Megan, who was sitting on the other side of him.

Zatanna, glanced over at Artemis and saw that Wally was leaning on her shoulder, snoring quietly and that the archer was running her fingers through his red hair. "I'll check on the pizzas."

Dick sadly watched Zatanna get up from the couch and walk into the kitchen. He then dumped the two pills in the back of his throat and chugged the glass of water.

Minutes later, he was grinning sleepily and melting into the couch, pain free, and on his way to recovery.


End file.
